Arvo Ylppö

Arvo Henrik Ylppö (27 October 1887 – 27 January 1992) was a Finnish pediatrician who significantly decreased Finnish infant mortality during the 20th century. He is credited as the father of Finland's public child welfare clinic system, and held the title of archiater for forty years. He is often referred to as the Dr. Benjamin Spock of Finland.

Ylppö was born in 1887 in Akaa, Finland into a farming family. He was apparently born premature and remained small in stature through his life. He entered the University of Helsinki in 1906 and decided to specialize in pediatric medicine. In 1912 he moved to the Imperial Children's Hospital in Berlin, Germany, where he wrote his thesis about infants' bilirubin metabolism in 1913. It was printed in Germany. He graduated as medical doctor in March 1914 in Helsinki.

While in Germany, Ylppö concentrated on research about children's pathological anatomy and attracted international recognition. In his research, he observed that deaths of prematurely born infants are usually due to treatable conditions rather than simple underdevelopment, which motivated advancement of treatment of and science related to prematurely born infants.

When he returned to Finland, in 1920, he became a teacher in Helsinki University Hospital. In 1925 his post became the post for professor of pediatry.

Ylppö continued his research, wrote extensively to medical journals about child care. He supported efforts to expand Finnish nurse training, Finnish pharmacy industry, and public awareness about medical matters. From 1920 to 1963 he was chief physician for the Helsinki Children’s Castle hospital. He also had a private practice in Helsinki.

Arvo Ylppö retired 1957 but still sponsored many childcare initiatives. He died in January 1992 at the age of 104.^[1]

References